Saturday 18 January 2014

Celtic Cask Sé - Tweet Tasting Preview

On Wednesday 22nd January, at 7:30pm, the Celtic Whiskey Shop / Celtic Whiskey Club shall be taking to twitter to host a tweet tasting showcasing their new release in the Celtic Cask range - Celtic Cask Sé.

This can be followed via their twitter pages @CelticWhiskeyCl and @Celticwhiskey or by following the hashtag #celticcask6.

The Celtic Whiskey Shop, based in the heart of Dublin City centre, is without doubt the finest whiskey shop on the island of Ireland.  First opened in June 2003 it has spent the last 10 and a bit years building strong links with all producers of Irish whiskey and can boast the most comprehensive whiskey range in Ireland with Irish, Scotch and World Whiskies (many rare & collectable). They also stock a fine selection of other spirits from around the world from armagnacs to grappas, rums to schnapps and plenty more. The shop has another side to it and in the other half of the store they also have an excellent wine section which has been re-branded in it's own right to become "Wines on the Green".

Celtic Whiskey Shop, Dublin, Ireland
With the additional strong links, via the wine side of the business, the company has also been working closely with fine wine producers and in 2009 they sourced wine casks from Anima Negra, in Spain, and further matured Tyrconnell Single Malt in the casks.  These bottlings were released under the Tyrconnell Label and the success of this whiskey encouraged the company to go even further and with this they sourced barrels from Madeira, Marsala, Burgundy, Rhone, Jerez, Tuscany & more from Anima Negra in Mallorca.  

This is when the Celtic Cask range was born.  The Celtic Cask range is a range of Irish whiskies that have been obtained by the Celtic Whiskey Shop and have been finished, to varying lengths, in one of the fine wine barrels they have in their possession.  The Celtic Cask range is highly exclusive and to date there have been 6 releases with each release being named after the Irish numbers corresponding to which release it is: Aon = 1, Dó = 2, Tri = 3, Ceathair = 4, Cuig = 5 and Sé = 6.

Celtic Cask Sé is the most recent of these releases.  It is a 22 year old, single malt whiskey that was born in September 1991 and bottled in November 2013.  It is a double distilled whiskey from an unnamed distillery that normally practices triple distillation (my guess is that it's from Bushmills).  The cask, number 1916, came to the company courtesy of the Teeling Whiskey Company and has been finished, for about 4 months, in one of their Anima Negra wine casks.  It has been bottled at 46% ABV and another interesting note is that the initial spirit was distilled from crystal malt, which is more commonly used in brewing to add colour and body to ales (Bushmills are known for having used crystal malt in the past).

Celtic Cask Sé is retailing for €195 and can only be bought at the Celtic Whiskey Shop either in store or online.

A wonderful Xmas gift I received last year was a membership to the Celtic Whiskey Club which is also attached to the company.  Set up in 2013 it's aim is to promote Irish Whiskey, in a fun and enjoyable manner.  Members get voting rights in the Irish Whiskey Awards and every two months members receive a special tasting sample, which will usually be a new release, a cask sample or an exclusive limited edition single cask.  Celtic Cask Sé was my first sample and what a first sample it is to receive.

As the year progresses I look forward to seeing what other delights come my way and without doubt I shall keep you all well informed as and when they arrive.

I have added some links to the bottom of the page highlighting the Celtic Whiskey Shop's website and the Facebook pages for the shop and club.

Until next time all I can say is don't forget to tune in to Twitter on Wednesday 22nd January at 7:30pm for what promises to be a great insight to a truly unique Irish Whiskey.

Slainte.

SI

Celtic Whiskey Shop website - www.celticwhiskeyshop.com

Celtic Whiskey Shop Facebook - www.facebook.com/Celticwhiskeyshop

Celtic Whiskey Club Facebook - www.facebook.com/CelticWhiskeyClub

2 comments:

  1. As part of their Whiskey Club, do they send you one small sample every two months? It sounds intriguing!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Donald, yes it is one small sample every two months but it's usually always something very special. Definitely worth looking into if you're a fan of Irish whiskey.

      Delete